Drying cylinder



Oct. 23, 1934.. M E HANSQN 1,978,081

DRYING CYLINDER Filed Jan. 29, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet l aww/nto@ ZW/fonEEamSw,

' Patented O ct. 23, 1934 1,978,081 name. oYLNnEa Milton E. Hanson.Collingswood, N. J., assigner to B. F. Sturtevant C Massachusettsompany, a corporation of Application January` 29, 1931, Seria'l No.512,078

Claims.

The object of the invention is to provide improvements broadly in dryingrolls, but more particularly for and as applied to presses for oisetprinting. Such rolls as hereinafter described can 6 of course beusedlupon and as a part of presses o! various types, whether forprinting webs of paper, textiles, or otherwise, and they may also beused as a part of paper-making machinery and in many other types ofmachines in which l 1D eiliciency and rapid drying of a web are desired,the heat being adapted to accurate and constant automatic regulationwithin a relatively small range. i

Another object of the invention is to provide an efficient combinationof a printing press or the like with one or more of the improved rolls,and also in operative association with either or both radiant heatersfor drying purposes and ozone applicators for oxidizing and/orpolymerizing the ink or other substance, such as saturation orimpregnation compounds, which may have been applied to' the web passingaround a given roll. A further object is to provide an improved rollstructure in which there is combined a xed shaft upon which is rotatablymounted the cylinder or roll proper, while within and surrounded by saidcylinder is an arrangement of electric heater units, carried by saidshaft is relatively close proximity to the inner surface of the roll,said elements being accessible through openings in the end of the rollwhich are normally spanned by removable heat-insulating closures.

With these and other objects in mind, the present invention comprisesfurther details of construction and operation which are fully broughtout in the following description, when read in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a printpressequipped with one embodiment of the invention, portions of whichare broken away; Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan view of one of the rolls andassociated parts, a portion of which grouping is in section on the line2-2 of Fig. 1;. Fig. 3 is a further enlarged transverse section of afragmentary portion of the elements shown in Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is alongitudinal diametrical section of the electrically heated roll andmounting therefor; Figs. 5 and 6 are transverse sections on therespective lines 5--5 and 6-6 of Fig. 4; and Fig. 7 is a section througha fluid heated roll adapted for use in place of the electrically heatedroll of representative type of printing press adapted to (Cl. 21S-19)handle a continuous web, and applied to any. desired number of colorimpressions to one side of said web, after which any desired number ofimpressions may be applied to the other side of the web. When more thanone impression is applied, there is probably always involved theassociation of two or more different colors which must be accurate withrespect to each other.

In the printing press illustrated, particularly in Fig. 1, 'one of apair of oppositely disposed 05 frame members is shown as comprising abase portion `1, having an enlarged head 2, which in turn rotatablysupports a centrally positioned platen roll 3, about which are alsorotatably positioned a plurality of impression rolls 4, rotatablycarried byradial extensions 5 from said frame head.A Projecting upwardlyfrom and supported by said head is an extension 6, which rotatably'supports a second platen roll 7, and a pair of 4impression rolls 8,rotatably carried by projec- 18 tions 9 from said extension. Angularlyrelated frame members 10 rotatably support drying cylinders 11 and 12,which are illustrated in greater detail in Figs. 2 to 6.

A paper or other form of web 13 is represent- 80 ed as coming from asuitable roll (not shown) and vfollowing the path indicated by arrows.First the web passes over an idler 14, vthence against the platen' roll7, and while against said roll receives impressions in sequence from thetwo impression rolls 8. Said web then travels directly to and around amajor portion of the circumference of the drying cylinder 11,1where theink or other substance is dried and/or polymerized by means hereinafterdescribed. Said web upon leaving said drying cylinder passes 'over anidler l5 and thence in contact with a tensioning roll 16 and intocontact with the ilrst platen roll 3; while in contact with saidlastnamed roll there are applied to the unprinted or opposite surface ofthe web impressions from the several impression rolls 4 in sequence. Theweb then passes about an idler 17 and into contact with the seconddrying cylinder 12 and after being in contact withy said last-nameddrying cylthe frame extensions 10 of the press, is a tubular shaft 23through which insulated electrically conductive wires 24 extend towardand thence radially through a lateral opening 25 withinV thesurrounding'cylinders 11 and 12. Adjacent to the. opposite ends of eachof said cylinders is a radially inwardly extending flange 26, towhich-is secured by any suitable means the peripheral portion 2'7 of aspider, which also comprises a hub portion 28, connected to saidperipheral portion by means of spokes 29, said hub being provided with ahollow chamber housing suitable anti-friction means 31 and closed by asuitable plate 32, the individual cylinderbeing prevented fromlongitudinal movement upon the shaft 23 by adjustably positioned collars33.

The open work of each of the spiders which span the ends of therespective cylinders is closed by a series of plates 34 which aredetachably secured in operative position by any suitable form of clips35. Each of these plates preferably comprises oppositely positioneddiscs 36, between which is secured suitable heat-insulating material37,-serving to prevent the escape of heat from within said cylinder. Themeans for heating each of these cylinders comprises a series of electricheating units 38, each comprising (see Fig. 3)' a casing 39, Withinwhich is positioned a series of resistance heating coils 40, separatedfrom one another and from the surrounding casing by suitable insulatingmaterial 41, the opposite end portions of each such unit being securedto segments 42 of a frame, which also comprises spokes 43 which connectthe adjacent end portions of said segments together and to a hub 44mounted upon the shaft 23.

Each such heating unit is of course providedl with terminals 45, towhich are connected the ends of the electric Wires 24. With thisconstruction, electric current carried by the wires 24 through the shaftand to the Several heater units causes the surrounding cylinder to beheated, much of the heat thus produced being radiated from theperiphery" of the cylinder since its opposite ends are closed by theheat-insulating plates above described. The heat of the cylinder may ofcourse be varied by any well-known form of resistances, and in fact maybe maintained at a predetermined temperature by any suitable automaticmeans such for instance as a thermostat or the like.

Referring to Fig. 1 it will be noticed that each of the cylinders 11 and12 is partly surrounded by spaced frames 46 between which extend ozoneor other fluid applicators, shown in cross section in Fig. 3,anddescribed and claimed in detail in copending application Serial No.512,079. Each applicator primarily comprises a`central tube 47 whichcommunicates with a supply conduit 48, said tube being practicallyentirely surrounded by cooling fluid 49 such as water contained within asurrounding casing 50, in turn surrounded by a heat-insulating jacket51, fluid from within said tube being adapted to pass radially outwardlythrough a channel 52 towards and in close proximity to the adjacent orouter surface of the web 13, supported by the outer surface of one ofthedrying cylinders 11 and 12. 'I'here may be as many of these applicatorsas desired and their function is to completely dry or polymerize the inkor other material carried by the web in conjunction with the heat givento 'said web by the adjacent cylinder. The channel 52, as seen in Fig.2, extends longitudinally of the applicator and is interrupted only byribs 53, the distance between adjacent ribs defining a section of suchchannel preferably equal to the width of a printed page upon said web.AThe cooling fluid 49 maybe led into the applicator-from any suitablesupply conduit 54 and finally emerge into a discharge conduit 55, andthe drying, oxidizing, or polymerizing fluid may be led into the tube47, preferably from both of the opposite ends of the applicator, as alsoshown in Fig.2.

V:Ln the operation of this device, the web 13 from an original blankroll- (not shown) receives impressions from the rolls 8 and -almostimmediately. cornes into contact'with the fairly hot surface of thefirst drying cylinder 11, where, in addition to the heating of the webitself, the ink or other substance applied thereto Ais acted upon by thefluid flowing from the severalzapplicatora with the result that said inkor other substance is completely dried or set before it comes intocontact with the platen roll 3, whereupon the opposite or unpr'intedsurface of the web receives impressions from the rolls 4, theselast-mentioned impressions being similarly dried or set by virtue of theweb imme- I diately thereafter coming into contact with the seconddrying cylinder 12 and passing adjacent 1 to the applicators partiallysurrounding said lastnamed cylinder, after which both of the sides ofsaid web being printed, or otherwise finished, in ax desired manner, theweb may be at once cut, folded, or otherwise actedl upon, depending upon10i the type or form in which it is to be disseminated, as a folder,pamphlet,` book, magazine or the like.

Referring to Fig'l, there is here shown a hollow cylinder 56 closed atits ends and adapted to be heated by steam, entering through a trunnion57. and leaving through a trunnion 58, said trunnions comprising meansto rotatably support said cylinder with respect to thebearings 22, whensuch cylinder is employed in lieu of the electrically heated cylinderhereinbefore described. Broadly either type of cylinder will serve toheat a web in contact with its outer surface, but the heat of the firstcylinder can be regulated automatically within wide ranges, while theheat of the steam cylinder must in general be maintained at or above thetemperature of generation.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to protectby Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. The combination of a stationary shaft, a cylinder rotatably carriedby said shaft having an end wall provided with an aperture, a heatingunit also carried by said shaft within said cylinder, said aperturepermitting access to the heating unit while the latter is in operativeposition, and displaceable closure means normally spanning said apertureto prevent the escape of heat therefrom, the mounting of the cylinder bysaid end wall being unaffected by said closure means.

2. The combination of a stationary shaft, a cylinder rotatably carriedby said shaft, a heating unit also carried by said shaft within saidcylinder, and heat-insulating plates detachably secured to and inclosingthe ends of said cylinder, to prevent the escape of heat therefrom andwhen removed permitting access to said unit within said cylinder, whilesaid cylinder is operatively mounted upon said shaft.

3. The combination of a fixed shaft, a hollow cylinder rotatably carriedthereby, apertured closures for the ends of said cylinder, operativelyspacing said cylinder from said shaft, a frame member carried by saidshaft within said cylinder, heating units. carried by said frame insubstantially uniform spaced relation with the interior 150 portion insubstantially regular spaced relation with the inner surface of saidcylinder, and heating units carried by and extending between theperipheral portions of said members, and in substantially uniform spacedrelation with the inner surface of said cylinder, said cylinder havingan end wall provided with an aperture permitting access to the heatingunit while the latter is mounted, and means operable to expose and closesaid aperture independently of the frame members and heating units, themounting o! the cylinder by said end wall being unaffected by saidclosure means.

5. The combination o! a stationary shaft, a hollow cylinder disposedabout said shaft, heating units within the cylinder, frame meanscomprising knock-down sections securing the heating units together aboutthe shaft and mounting them from the shaft, skeleton means mounting saidcylinder on said shaft permitting access to said trame means and heatingunits in their mounted condition, and means operable to open and closethe skeleton means while the cylinder is in operative positionindependentlyot the mounting of said frame means and heating units.

MILTON E. HANSON.

